Project Summary (Career Enhancement Core) The Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR) Career Enhancement Core will use CEGIR resources and the opportunities available at each site to create a Core that will train early stage scholars in rare diseases research with a focus on rare eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs). Through the CEGIR LEADERS (Longitudinal Enhancement And Development in Eosinophilic gastrointestinal and Rare diseases Scholarship) program, the Core is designed to enhance the likelihood of rare diseases focus and academic success of the scholars in training. The specific goals of the CEGIR Career Enhancement Core are to 1) attract early stage scholars to the field of rare diseases, with a focus on four rare diseases, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), eosinophilic gastritis (EG), eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE), and eosinophilic colitis (EC); 2) help scholars gain research experiences in these rare diseases; and 3) enhance and encourage scholars? career development along a rare diseases career path. These goals will be achieved through a variety of interventions including recruiting stellar candidates; a series of online lectures and webinars developed in partnership with professional organizations such as the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN); an annual CEGIR Education Symposium; interactions with established researchers and patient advocacy groups (PAGs); opportunities to visit centers of excellence to learn new information, approaches, and technologies; and through an apprenticeship program involving research projects. The CEGIR LEADERS program will engage early stage scholars during graduate school (e.g., MD and PhD training) and during the initial years beyond graduation (fellowship or postdoctoral positions) with special emphasis on recruitment of underrepresented minorities. Each CEGIR site has experience and resources to aid career development of early stage investigators in clinical investigation and translational research and has access to a pool of early stage investigators who will be outstanding CEGIR scholar candidates. Thus, the CEGIR Career Enhancement Core represents an unparalleled opportunity for early stage scholars to obtain training in the rare diseases field with a focus on rare EGIDs and to enhance their career development.